The end is near

Dear all of you readers of our blog.

Guy and I have now decided it is nearly time to bring this blog of ours to an end. 

We left the UK on the 12th September a year ago and you have been with us for many of our adventures. We will still continue to have these adventures although they will be a little more low key.

We are now settling into our daily life in Oxford, and if any of you would like to stay in touch with us there are still ways.

I am on Facebook under 'sarah stranks' and I will continue to post some things on there.

You have been a great audience (especially the lady from Oz! )

You can also follow the blog again from a desktop machine and read it all one year after the event. A few clicks on www.travellingwithtwins.blogspot.com from a pc or laptop and after you have found 2013 September on the right side of the page you can find the posts from one year ago.

This possible from a browser on a smart phone but a little more fiddly..

We will finish on the 12th. .

Much love as always xx

Beauty spots around Oxford

I thought you might like to see some beautiful cottages around Oxford as I realise some of you have never been to England.

A day in the life. .

A birthday party for Marcos. .

And then a night out with my most precious sisters. .

First day at school

First day nerves had Rowan in a fierce grip as we left for their first day of school. He was determined to ride his bike all the way (he is a very determined little boy when he chooses to be! ) and even though it is only a 15 minute walk, that's a lot of pedalling for little legs and we had to stop once or twice so he could make it. Esme serenely came along on her scooter, very enthusiastically doing a 'nature spot' the whole way. We came across a few squashed snails which were met with many 'yeuch's! !'  And lots of questions about what was actually inside snails.  

This morning we had a curfufal of parking a bike and a scooter and u had to go and buy a little padlock for each of them. All done and their various modes of transport were parked to their liking and into school they went.

This is their school:

This week I am oi cking them up at 11.40 for the first few day and the day is gradually getting longer with them finishing at 1pm for the first half of next week and then a whole day til 3.30 on Thursday and Friday.  After that it will be full time forever.  

So now I am at home (without that much time to do much yet!) and Guy had gone back to work, which he loves and describes as being like a comfortable old pair of shoes. . And I've got a job interview lined up as a medical secretary at the local hospital.  It isn't very much pay; but it would offer me a good work life balance, and that is really what it us about to us. Quality of life, not quantity of hours spent stressing out. 

Here are the children on their first day.. 

Friends reunited!

The trio have been reunited!

This is Marcos who missed Rowan and Esme very much while they were away.

Today we went for lunch at his house and then up to the local fruit farm where the children played on a bouncy castle and Rowan got into his first scrap with another boy.  I turned around to see around wild flurry of little fists and suddenly there were tears everywhere.

It transpires that another boy about Rowan ' age was trying to pull the bouncy castle down with his brothers and sisters and Rowan didn't like it and tried to take matters into his own hands. Poor little thing was very upset.

Food combining - girl style

You may remember that when we were in Australia Rowan went through a food combining fad. He would eat pesto and vegmite sandwiches and brown sauce, mayonnaise and tomato sauce striped sandwiches.

Now its Esme's turn who today requested a banana and raspberry sandwich. 

Esme's pretty face paint

A beautiful summers day

Had our great friends John and Cristina over for breakfast this morning at 9th and we cooked pancakes and bacon and eggs which was really good fun.

Then off to a lovely pub where Guy and I held our wedding reception for a lunch - and another local fayre with face painting and a free 'bring a dish' marquee. We were told that these types of things have sprung up everywhere since we left but it was a lovely day so it was very successful!

Then I went on a run through the park next door to our house and couldn't resist taking some photos for you to see..

A country fayre

Well, actually it was called 'Bunkfest' and it was good fun.. lots of folk dancing and people dressed up in wierd costumes! (For the Un - initiated amongst you, these are Morris dancers! )

This lady made her own costume out of an old lab coat. . It took her ages and we were trying to work out if each troupe put an advert up in the local shop trying to recruit a 'yellow' or 'green' dancer!

We were in a beautiful little village with beautiful views..

And it was great to catch up with lots of our lovely old friends too!

 

My first night out

..since arriving home!

Sorry about the lack of blog last night but I was busy living it up at the local pub!

It was good fun although I was tucked up in bed by 11!!

A lovely day at Blenheim Palace

Met some old friends again today at the beautiful Blenhiem Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill. It is a sandstone palace with incredible grounds designed by Sir Christopher Wren.. Here's a link do you can get an idea:

 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenheim_Palace

Anyway, it was great. 

Esme and Rowan thoroughly enjoyed themselves! 

You can see it's freezing here already! 

 

Blog anxiety

I'm suffering from bloggers anxiety but haven't find much today; travelled around the 9 charity shops in Headington looking for some little toys for the children, and I saw a top quality winter coat for £35 - usually priced at £290. 

Then in the off chance I drove to the children's new school and amazingly met their new teacher, Miss Arnold, who seemed very nice and the type of teacher that I wish I'd had at my first school! The children were quiet and shy but I discovered that they won't be needing uniforms at all.. So that will be a trip to the shop to return them. The school does a lot of outside play when the weather permits do all they actually need is good wellies and warm coats with mittens and hats for the winter. 

This evening we had a meeting with William; who has offered his homestay business to us (as a gift) to discuss if it could be a go-er. Mmmm.. Lots to think about! 

Goodnight for now! 

Sxx

Catching up

We are still inundated with visitors! Today we had: my mum, Charlotte, Toby and Sheena and one of Guy's childhood friend with his two children. 

Esme and Rowan were allowed to watch cartoons on Sheena's iPad - which is one of the most amazing gifts our children can receive. ( in their eyes not mine. Guy)

On our trip we have managed with a smart phone each and that has been it. The children were allowed one phone game each to play but time was strictly limited. Guy bought an unlocked phone in Thailand and having the Internet saved us on numerous occasions. We have not got an iPad, nor do we want one. 

It's difficult as we both feel that a computer has a place in a home but shouldn't have a place in a four and half year old child's mind.  The time will come when they will have to use computers but it seems such a shame (and totally unnecessary) to get them used to them too early. 

In the afternoon we drove to a really pretty village called Hook Norton, in the heart of the Cotswolds

To see Alexandra and their two favourite cousins.. 

Much fun was had with promises of many more to come! Esme and Rowan confidentially told them that we are never ever going away again;) (and to be honest I'd second that!) 

Livvie gave Esme (and Rowan) her whole Syvlvanian collection of toys/animals etc.. It's still like Christmas here!! Here you can see them playing with the tree house. I'd like to think Guy could build one of those in the back garden for them!! 

Sxx 

Our helpers have arrived!

They have been up since 3am and are super tired! They got to our house, had some lunch and promptly fell asleep! 

Esme and Rowan are still pretty tired too so snuggling up in the sofa was just what they needed;) 

Guy is preparing the wood but was pretty disappointed to find the wheel barrow had a flat tyre and a new wheel won't arrive before Friday. He will try and borrow a barrow from someone on our road in the morning. 

This is our wild and overgrown garden.. Lots of rain early and sun later in the summer led to supersize plants. This has been pruned! 

And Esme and Rowan in the kitchen thoroughly enjoying 'horses' with Toby.

Sxx

It's the little things..

Today we had ten visitors coming as well as Andrew and his two children who stayed over from last night so we did some baking this morning and made some cherry bakewells and then some lavender biscuits.. And yes, the kitchen looked as if an atomic bomb had gone off afterwards! The cooking was a huge success and will have to be repeated again tomorrow as there is nothing left! 

The children were up early and very excited that Sophie and Marcus were still here so before long the house was full of fun and laughter but my blood did start to boil when they all started practicing their screams in the kitchen. They all went up to the tennis courts in the park and I calmed down again;) 

Andrew and the children left with many promises to meet up again very soon and then our lovely guests started to arrive.. 

Firstly Sheena, our lovely aunt/great aunt, then my sisters and mum. One of my sisters was diagnosed with a huge brain tumor three weeks into our trip.. and as you can imagine I was very pleased to see her and realise that she was alright. A little later we were joined by Toby, Guys brother. They all bought little welcome home gifts for the children and it honestly truly felt like Christmas - all day!! It was so good to see everyone and know that they would be with us in an hours' time, 2 hours time.. It's really as if I have to keep pinching myself to realise its real. 

It's so lovely to look around and see mess and not feel it has to be cleared up straight away because we're not in our own home. It's fantastic to think the children can scream as loud and for as long as they want to because we are in our own home (and I know that these things weren't a problem when we were staying with people) but its so great to NOT have to control the children to that extent. 

It's the small things that make this life we live so wonderful, not how much money you earn or how nice your house is.. It's the peace I feel when I relax; it's the happiness I hear in the children.. 

So tomorrow we have another mad day. We are expecting one of our old helpers who is arriving with his friend, to move, chop and stack some wood for us. (It's a huge amount!) 

Doesn't look like much from this angle but this pile is waist height and has increased from this amount:

This is the front of our house. So our helpers are here for two weeks and Guy is convinced that it will take then that long to get this lot of wood sorted out. 

It's back holiday Monday here too so I can't phone the school to see if the children have to wear uniforms - I think they must do if I have been given a price list for every item.. They will be wearing yellow polo shirts and navy jumpers with grey/black bottoms - should I buy then proper trainers and football boots etc? It's crazy and a little frightening to think I've got to them go into this big bad world. 

I realised another thing today. Now, I'm not religious, but I really do feel so incredibly blessed to have spent this amazing year with the children (and Guy of course!) Not many parents have the opportunity to do this and I really am thankful. So to have been with them when they experienced so many things for the first time, to have held their hands when they were worried or frightened, to have seen their fear turning into joy as they were conquered, to have had that, to have been there and lived with every moment.. I am so thankful. Words aren't really enough. 

Sxx 

A long walk

Yesterday was a day of peace and relaxation - until Guy suggested a three mile walk down the back lanes into Oxford! 

The walk is through the park behind our house, on the back lanes and alleyways for a further mile, and then through some beautiful water meadows into the centre of Oxford.  It usually takes about two hours and this was the first time we had walked it without the children being in their old buggy. (Guy did suggest taking the buggy but it was met with an absolute no - end of discussion - from me.) The children went in on their bikes (including Rowan) and we had a great chat with our friend Andrew (who bought his two lovely children with him). Esme isn't so confident on her bike yet so she stuck to her scooter. 

We are still really enjoying being home and doing that beautiful walk bought home to us how incredibly lucky we have been to have had such a successful trip and then coming bank to such a lovely city that we call home. The children are really enjoying discovering old places and  faces again and it's pretty amazing to hear how their brains work - Esme saw a little girl she used to play with and she said 'I know that girl don't I mummy? What's her name again? - I don't remember!' A quick reminder if the name and she's all smiles again! 

The weather seems almost autumnal already and with our thin blood we're all feeling the cold and we haven't had enough time to find any other jumpers from the garage.

The walk was pretty tiring and we had just finished lunch when the heavens opened and it started raining cats and dogs for the rest of the afternoon. Andrew and I caught the bus home with the littlest kids and Guy cycled back with the older ones then we all collapsed and rounded the evening off with a few games of chase the ace and then bed. 

Xx